BALU#111

Melee competitor and commentator | Currently in India

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

@Sparkmelee We can probably play with around 70 ping

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

@upgamer_Nicki I'm glad the situation was figured out!

But the fact that your first question was "is it just the shower" is hilarious considering the Smasher memes lmao

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

Great initiative by @nounsesports !

I voted for @Yetis_Exist. He's been one of the staples of Asia Melee since I came back here in 2020 and has really helped foster the scene here.

He deserves this chance

Go vote! https://t.co/WHOiu3cA7y

[Junebug @arJunebug]

Wanna represent the Asian smash scene in the US?

As a South Asian person in smash, it gives me great pleasure to announce this effort

Lil Nouns is providing two 1000 USDC grants to individuals living in Asia for Don't Park on the Grass

Apply here: https://t.co/2VBL7u1nVo

[Eggdog Esports 🥚🍳 @EggdogEsports]

Crazy how this is happening in FOUR DAYS

Main stream: ttv/galintgaming
Side stream(sunday only): ttv/btssmash

[Zain @ZainNaghmi]

You are assuming that I’m already team FreeHax and that I’m being pressured into staying silent. The reality is that I’m uncomfortable because anything I say will contribute to Hax’s already shaky mental state. Moreover, if EE wanted to have a genuine conversation about Hax, he wouldn’t have framed it that way at the very end of the podcast- he was clearly joking and trolling and my response played into that bit.

Personally, I believe that a movement like FreeHax is damaging and plays into Hax’s idea that his ability to play Melee is a matter of life and death. In my opinion, unbanning him serves as a bandaid for a much larger problem. Conversely, those who are callously antagonizing him at his lowest moment can eat shit. Seeing that polarity on a daily basis has to be painful.

If you can look me in the eyes and tell me that based off his behavior in the last few years that he’s okay, I think you’re full of shit. I hope he has close friends and family around him to show him love and support. That said, it is not my role to control how Hax seeks psychological help. Simultaneously, it is not my job to decide his ban status.

It is insane to assume that Melee is a cult and that the TOs are some kind of cabal acting in bad faith. TOing looks like it fucking sucks. But every TO that I’ve met has operated primarily under the umbrella of love for the game. I’ve approached this situation with careful thought and an open mind, along with more context from my relationship with Hax, and this is the conclusion I’ve come to. You may disagree with me, but I have no interest in furthering the discourse on this.

[bonfire10🇵🇸 @bonfireten]

"I wonder what it would be like if I could go back to 2004 and dominate the competitive melee scene 🤔"

2004 spectators: "this f*ggot sure does spotdodge on platforms a lot"

[Siddharth @DearthOfSid]

“The PM is not above the citizens of India. The PM is not above the Law of India. And when the PM violates the Law, he should be taken to task by the Law.”

~ Brinda Karat who filed a police complaint against Modi for his recent anti-Muslim hate speech

[Neelesh Misra @neeleshmisra]

If this is true, another feather in the cap for Indian food quality regulators.
We truly have no idea what we are eating these days and we just trust that if they are approved by the authorities they must be safe.
The corruption of India’s food regulators has a direct impact on spiralling diseases including cancer.

[Roshan Rai @RoshanKrRaii]

🚨 URGENT

RT if you want the Supreme Court of India to take Suo Moto Cognizance of the #Surat incident and order ECI to extend nominations on that seat.

Electoral Democracy cannot be allowed to be mocked like this.

[Fiction | 69% Apparel @FictionIRL]

Just gonna come out and give my opinion that I would be happiest if notches, z-jump/other remaps, and box controllers were all banned. Didn't have notches for a few years and got them again recently and its just silly LOL. Never aim up b, just pick a notch. ZZZZZ no skill

[Zain @ZainNaghmi]

SUPER LONG POST ABOUT CONTROLLERS INCOMING I HAVE NO LIFE IM SORRY

I've never really given my thoughts on controller discourse, but I feel very strongly about seeing changes within the ruleset. These are my thoughts as of right now, but with more data and comprehensive research my opinion could be swayed. I want to emphasize that I am not calling anyone a cheater here for abiding by our current ruleset. I think there is a good amount of nuance to the situation.

Almost every top player that I've talked to, including boxx users themselves, acknowledge that the boxx is super broken. However, the reality of the current landscape of melee is that boxxes are not pervasive at TOP level melee. There are only three boxx users in the current top 50. There are various reasons why a top level melee player would not want to switch to boxx: the stigma of using it as well as an asterisk on results, a strong likelihood of it getting banned with a major victory, as well as the time investment required to learn it. We all are aware of the fact that it's a superior controller, but the lack of stellar results has kept it in a weird limbo. I firmly believe that if someone like Leffen were to switch to a boxx controller and win a tournament, the discourse that would stem from that victory would lead to more drastic changes.

The existence of the boxx has created this weird gray area for the legality of GCC specific mods, including notches and z-jump. At top level melee, things like notches and z-jump have WAY more influence over the current meta than boxxes do (that's not to say that boxxes are not way more broken than these specific mods).

Notches have greatly amplified recovery as well as general movement for a few years now. It's hard to praise someone's recovery or wavedashes when they exist. Almost every top level spacie acknowledges that they should be banned, but because the boxx exists it is a necessity. I don't love this argument for a couple of reasons- the relevance that the boxx has in top level melee, which is scarce, in my opinion does not outweigh competitive integrity. Moreover, notches were around well before the release of the boxx. So many top level melee players want notches banned, but to be honest, if most top 100 level melee players agreed to stop using them (which I think is very doable), the issue would be resolved.

Z-Jump is another mod that spawned from what the boxx is capable of as well as preserving general hand health. Inevitably, discussion of this mod revolves mostly around Cody, who I have talked to recently. My main issue with Z-Jump is that Cody, who seeks to gain the most by keeping it legal, is the most vocal authority on the subject. His defense stems from people from every level of the community claiming that he's blatantly cheating. I want to make it clear that I believe that he is the best melee player in the world for a reason. We both tried our hardest to get #1 and I genuinely believe his hard work and passion for the game is incredible. I'd never want to retroactively diminish his results. However, I think it is a problem when he argues for the legality of Z-Jump by publicly saying that people overvalue how much he uses it, and that 90% of the time that he can claw over Z-Jump, he claws. I'm a nerd so I checked his inputs from our slippi games, and every instant aerial, laser, JC upsmash included Z-Jump. I don’t think that this omission was malicious on his end, but it does say something about how reliant he is on Z-Jump with his current controller layout. Cody himself told me he probably subconsciously switched over time. The problem is that the defense and research of this mod being legal should not be a solo endeavor, especially one made by a top player using said mod.

There is not enough data gathered within tournament environments to prove that Z-jump is a preference and can replace perma clawing. Switching grips for things like instant aerials, or sliding your finger from Y-A (which has its own limitations) for instant nairs can provide the same CONSISTENCY, but not the same FREQUENCY of certain techniques which Z-Jump allows. Like I said before, my opinions are subject to change with more research and data. But I do genuinely think that Z-Jump offers a distinct advantage at top level melee play.

That's pretty much everything I've had on my mind about controllers. If you read all of this you're pretty crazy. I've never really complained that much about anything in melee before, but I do find this important enough to talk about. I would like to make a video about all of this in the future, and would be more than happy to collaborate with people who also feel strongly on the subject.

[David Josef Volodzko @davidvolodzko]

My Indian brothers and sisters, I have written about some of the factors that create the problems that women in India face regarding rape and other forms of sexual abuse. I have mentioned honor killings, which makes women reluctant to come forward, and I have mentioned shaming the victims. This is a problem in governance and society, but perhaps most tragically, also within families, for a victim's own loved ones may tell them to keep quiet.

In India, there is an expression, ghar ki izzat, or ghar kee ijjat, which means the "respect of the house." In Indian culture, it is said that a daughter is the ghar ki izzat, a beautiful concept, and as a father of a daughter myself, I entirely agree. But this concept is often twisted by parents who tell their children to remain silent or risk the respect of the house. In so doing, they put that respect before the child and therefore their house loses something ever more valuable than respect—dignity. For if the daughter is the respect of the house, then you should protect it with all your heart, and that means defending her honor. By telling her to stay quiet, you defend the idea of her honor above the young lady herself, and dishonor yourself. Others may not see it, but a house that does this has no respect to lose.

Another factor, one that I have neglected to mention, is how the caste system contributes to all this. As my friend @Krasnyyyyy_ told me, talking about the plight of women in India, "The caste system is one of the major reasons for the madness that we see in our society."

We cannot have a complete conversation about sexual violence in India without talking about how it is disproportionately done to women of lower castes. Over 23% of Dalit women report being raped, according to the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights. God only knows what the true number is.

The brilliant @ranjanakumari has noted that caste-based rape is a dominance tactic used by higher castes.

In November 2020, @Reuters reported that low-caste women are raped "to keep them in their place."
https://t.co/XDwg5ZwJpQ

In June 2022, @AlJazeera reported that after Dalit women are raped, few if any ever see justice.
https://t.co/ChoQanRusf.

But this is not isolated to any one religion because in India, even faiths that believe that everyone should be equal have now been infected by caste-minded thinking. There are Dalit Sikhs, Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.

This just goes to show that the issue of rape in India is not a disease so much as a symptom. Religious conservatism only makes the problem worse and Hindutva nationalism only seeks to deny the problem and shut people like myself up who would draw attention to it because, like parents who believe their beloved daughters are the ghar ki izzat but who would rather silence them than defend their honor, these people think India's glory will be in pretending it has no flaws. Wrong. India's glory will be in overcoming such flaws and setting an example that other countries will not only admire, but seek to emulate.

One day, peoples of the world will look to India as a lighthouse in a storm. But that day will not come until India learns that its daughters mean more than what any stranger thinks of them. Its daughters are its greatest treasure. The respect of the house of India.

So what can be done? Public awareness campaigns are key and can help pave the path to justice system reforms. It's important these campaigns target young boys especially, to raise a generation of Indian gentleman warriors not incel scumbags. Caste prejudices must be addressed, especially in school.

These are big changes. But India is a big country. Bigger than any other. If the people will a change, then a change will surely come.

But Indian politics are currently an obstacle rather than an instrument. I am bullish on India's future, but that is because I foresee a political shift on its horizon. I hope I am right about this, because the current trend of sexist nationalism is not going to make India the great global leader than I know it can become.

Consider for instance the image and abhorrent quote below which both belong to Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu monk and politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in the nation by population. This little idiot is the state's longest serving chief minister, who in his finite wisdom has also said that when men adopt feminine traits they become gods but when women become more masculine they become demons.

These are precisely the kind of cretins standing in the way of India's full potential. But the nation is waking up. I am excited to see its future. India is infinitely bigger than such little men. You wait and see.

[David Josef Volodzko @davidvolodzko]

"Defaming whole country?" I literally wrote, "I love India. It is and always will be one of my favorite places in the world" and she accuses me of defaming India for addressing the plight of women in the country.

I also wrote, after someone who read my post made nasty remarks about India:

"Respectfully, you should be ashamed of yourself, sir. Yes, the situation for women is egregious. But let’s walk and chew gum for a step. The culture is one of the most richly beautiful and philosophically insightful of any I have ever seen. And I’ve seen most of them. Few cultures offer such bewildering depth or captivating beauty. It’s almost no wonder that enlightenment itself was conceptually conceived in these lands. And the food? And the music? And the nature? And, best of all, the people. Problems exist. I’m the last person you have to tell because I’m a strident critic of India’s flaws. As I am of Gaza, Korea, Israel, China, the US, Peru, and other places that I love. The places I do not love, I care less if they improve. Yes, problems exist. But so do the charms, and if you don’t know them, you don’t know India. In fact, I will tell you something more. I have already shared some of the awful stories of sexual assault in India, but of the many women I have met and come to know as friends in India, all of whom had such experiences in one way or another, not one ever concluded that India was a shithole worth nothing. To the great credit of these wise women, they saw the horror more directly than you or I, and the beauty. None became bigots. None walked away despising Indian people on the whole. None determined to snort at their entire culture. And thank god, because it would have been their loss, not India’s. The issues regarding treatment of women are only the tip of the iceberg, to be frank. There’s a lot of ugly to discuss of India. This contradiction seems to be confusing many people in my replies. Welcome to India. But although some countries are perhaps as beautiful, none are more so."

And yet @sharmarekha says I am "defaming" the whole country.

This is what you get from NCW types. I am not Indian, so take my view for whatever it is worth, but my Indian friends do not seem to have much respect, if any, for NCW and one reason for this is because it has a deplorable habit of blaming women when they are attacked, raped or even murdered. NCW makes India less safe for women when it does these things.

Sharma herself has faced criticism for failure to respond to complaints filed by women's rights groups over credible allegations of women being publicly stripped naked, beaten by mobs and raped in public.

And yet here she is with the gall to accuse me of defaming India. Ms. Sharma, it is you who defame India by presiding over a group called the National Commission for Women and doing nothing about the issue noted above, and then criticizing people like me for drawing attention to this important matter.

I love India. I don't have enough heart to hold all the love I have for India, nor enough words to express it. But do you?

[A.R. Moxon 🦋 @JuliusGoat]

Women want to be treated as if they are human beings and men are by and large psychologically incapable of dealing with that.

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

@Yetis_Exist @KoDoRiNSSB Haha yeah, black marth too

[Siddharth @DearthOfSid]

Tomorrow, a million Malayalis are going to form a 620km long human chain across Kerala to protest against the Union govt.

This is political organising at its very best, enabled by a politically conscious population.

But you won’t see a word about this in Indian corporate media.

[Snehasis @SnehasisMukhop4]

#Exclusive
The WIRE's investigative report could unleash another round of political EARTHQUAKE.

@MahuaMoitra unearthed a massive corruption in Dhamra Port. Adani was trying to acquire Gangavaram Port through the same route that is why she was expelled to get her Qs blocked.
1/

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

@punitsoneji @ItalyinMumbai It took more than 2 months from application submission to receiving the passport.

Worst part is that they have stamped the wrong visa on the passport and we leave on the 22nd.

Truly frustrating experience

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

@ItalyinMumbai me and my wife applied for travel visas on Oct 13th for a departure date on dec 20th.

We have not gotten any updates..no one is replying to emails or picking up calls.

Can you please help/respond? Any info will be very useful as the travel date is approaching

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

@vfsglobalcare @VFSGlobal please acknowledge this and help resolve this issue!

[BALU#111 @Balu_SSBM]

@ItalyinMumbai @ItalyinMumbai you have stamped my wife's passport with some other person's visa.

App# CHEA/121023/0015/01

I have sent an email with the details. Please advise ASAP on how to correct this. We depart on 22nd December night.

@VFSGlobal